Trackdown
How to play
Each guess shows as a row of small coloured chips under the song name. A small triangle in the corner of a chip points up when the answer is higher or later, and down when it is lower or earlier. Tap a row to expand it and read the full explanation for each clue.
There is one song to find each day. Type any song or artist into the box and pick it from the list. Every guess that is not the answer shows seven tiles comparing your guess with the mystery song. Use them to narrow it down, and keep guessing until you get it. There is no limit on guesses, but the share grid shows how many you needed.
What the tiles mean
| Tile | Green | Amber |
|---|---|---|
| Artist | Same act | Your guess shares a writer, producer or featured artist with the answer. The tile names them. |
| Year | Same year | Within three years, with an arrow for earlier or later |
| Genre | Same genre | Same family, for example Britpop and indie rock are both Rock |
| Country | Same country | Same continent |
| Act | Same kind of act (group or solo) and the same decade: the decade a group formed, or a solo artist was born | Same kind of act, or within two decades, with an arrow for earlier or later. This describes the first-credited act, so on "2Pac featuring Elton John" it is 2Pac. |
| Title | Same number of words in the title | Within two words, with an arrow for more or fewer |
| Weeks | Same number of weeks in the UK top 10 | Within two weeks, with an arrow |
| Tempo | Within 3 bpm | Within 12 bpm, with an arrow for faster or slower |
| Length | Within 5 seconds | Within 25 seconds, with an arrow for longer or shorter |
The strip under the search box collects everything the tiles have told you so far, such as "1996 to 2004, faster than 120 bpm, Europe". The year is the year the song entered the UK top ten, which can differ from its original release.
When you are stuck
Under the guess box the game counts how many songs fit the year range and the green and amber clues you have been given so far: genre, country, kind of act and shared credits. It deliberately ignores what grey tiles rule out, and the title, weeks, tempo and length clues, because with those it would hand you the answer within a few guesses. Tick the box next to the count and the dropdown only offers those songs; once there are forty or fewer, clicking the empty box lists them all. Leave it off if you want the full challenge.
Previous puzzles
Missed a day? The "Previous puzzles" button lists every past puzzle with your result, and you can play any of them. Archive games do not count towards your streak.
Challenge a friend
Press "Challenge a friend", pick any song in the game, and copy the link it gives you. Whoever opens the link has to guess that song from the clues. Challenges do not affect your streak.
Which songs can come up
You can guess any single that reached the UK top 10 since 1960, several thousand in all. The daily answer is always one of the most-streamed fifth of its decade, so every era gets its turn and the song should be one most people have heard even if they cannot place it straight away. Practice rounds, from the "Random song" button, draw from the same answer pool and can be played as often as you like.
Where the data comes from
Chart positions come from the Wikipedia lists of UK top-ten singles. Song length, tempo and the 30-second preview come from Deezer. Country, writers and producers come from MusicBrainz. It is all gathered automatically, so a tempo is occasionally doubled or halved and a credit is sometimes missing. If a clue looks wrong, it probably is, and we would like to hear about it.
Trackdown is an independent project and is not affiliated with the Official Charts Company, Deezer or MusicBrainz.